Just Enough
by WeBuiltThePyramids
Summary: They were the loves of each other's lives, then exes, now something like acquaintances with benefits. They'd both made a million decisions better than this. But they'd also probably both made a million decisions worse.
1. Reckless

**I wasn't sure how to break this fic up – it was a debate between a three parter and the same clear three segments but broken up into multiple chapters with the scenes fleshed out more. I opted for the three parter just so it doesn't feel like this will go on forever.**

**This has nothing to do with my other post series fics. This one stands alone. It's extremely smut heavy, but there's plot, too. But don't be 'that person' that reads this and then reviews saying smut isn't your thing. The fic is rated M and and you've been told it's smut heavy. You know what you're getting into.**

* * *

Although they'd won the job her team had awkwardly been competing with her ex's for, Paige still felt weird going back to the garage to get her things. Especially since Walter was there. They made some small talk as she packed the few things Walter hadn't already boxed up, but she oddly didn't feel like gloating over securing the project over Scorpion. Their boss was a hard ass. He didn't like anything they were doing, and even Paige, stubborn as she was, was realizing that in more than one area of the assignment, they weren't as qualified as they would have been with the entire original team together.

So she didn't want to talk about it, even as an excuse to brag about their success when Walter asked _so how are thing_? Paige might have the highest EQ of all of the original Scorpion team, but that apparently wasn't even enough to prevent her from avoiding talking about work with the only subject that was _more_ awkward.

"I went on a date," she blurted. "He wasn't much to write home about."

"I'm sorry."

"He just wanted to…well, you know."

Walter grunted.

"Not that I'd be opposed to that kind of relationship, per se," she said, continuing to put things in her bag, "but not with someone I'd just met. There has to be a level of trust before I'll go to bed with someone. I mean, he could be a serial killer."

"Wouldn't want that." Walter cleared his throat. "You uh, you know I'm awake a lot at night. If you ever find yourself in trouble…"

"What, call you?"

"If I'm the only one you'd be able to get ahold of, I'd like to think you'd call me before you'd let yourself stay in a situation." He took a step toward her. "I'll always be there, Paige, when it comes to your safety. I don't want you to think that's changed."

"I can handle myself."

"I know. But sometimes we all need someone else."

She made eye contact with him. It was a mistake. Her hand, fingers curled around her keys, froze in place. She recovered quickly, blinking and dropping her gaze to her purse. "Well. I'll keep that in mind."

He cocked his head. "Paige."

"What?"

"What is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Just now. What was that?" He closed the gap between them.

"I uh…" she gulped, shrugging. "It's nothing."

"The way you looked at me right there was not nothing."

Dammit. He could have just ignored it, let her shrug it off, been kind enough to pretend he hadn't picked up on her thoughts. But of course he couldn't. He was Walter O'Brien and he could never let anything go. Paige lifted her shoulders again. "I'm sorry."

"When you look at me like that, it makes me think…" He looked away. "Never mind."

"It's hard to just turn it off," she said. "Habits. You know. For a long time…"

"Yeah." He sounded somewhat exasperated. "I know what you mean."

"Didn't mean to…lead you on, I guess."

"Lead me on."

She suddenly understood why he couldn't ignore the way she was looking at him, because God, the way he was looking at her now. Paige took a step toward him – a tiny one, because they were already standing incredibly close – and lifted her eyebrows. "As in…"

He didn't answer, at least not verbally. But the look in his eyes…

Paige lifted her chin, ever so slightly. "No strings attached."

"No strings. Real or hypothetical."

She cocked her head. "Hy…hypothetical strings?"

"Well, there is String Theory, and…" he cleared his throat. "Never mind."

"Good man." Paige grinned, leaning forward and catching his lips with her own. Walter kissed her back fiercely, her shirt bunching in his hands as they curled around her waist. She slid her hands up his chest to rest around his neck, moaning louder than she'd have liked as his hands moved over her. It was all so good and so familiar and she hadn't realized how comparatively dormant her body had been until it came alive under his hands.

She'd thought she'd turned down her date because she didn't know him well enough, or because she simply hadn't been in the mood. Now, with Walter drawing sounds out of her that might be alarming out of context, simply by kissing and touching her over her clothes, she realized that none of those things had been the case. She hadn't slept with Ted because she wanted something – someone – very specific.

And hey. No strings attached.

She pulled his shirt open, knowing that she'd lost a button only when she heard the slight clatter of it hitting the desk, and she lifted onto her toes, shifting backward so she was sitting on the wooden surface. Walter pushed his hips between her knees, pressing against her, and she groaned and lifted her legs to wrap around his hips, grinding against him as their mouths locked again.

God, she could probably finish just from this; rocking her hips against him was providing friction against her clit and she could already feel it building. She tightened her ankles around him, rocking harder, and he groaned, his eyes falling closed and his hands tugging at the bottom of her shirt. She shuddered when she felt his hands underneath her clothing, running over her belly, gripping her tighter the more she moved her hips against him. "God, you feel amazing," she gasped, her hand around the back of his neck. "Even…" she kissed him. "Even through clothes." She kissed him again, a moan catching in her throat. "I'm so close," she managed, gasping again. "Oh shit I'm close."

"You're driving me crazy," Walter said, moving a hand up to one of her breasts and squeezing it. Paige pushed her chest against his hand, emitting as sharp sound as the tension between her hips broke and pleasure flooded her body. It was her first orgasm in a month, after a night of wine, her vibrator, and a good amount of determination shortly after the breakup. She'd decided that night that intimacy, even with herself, was simply too much effort.

Perhaps it had just been her mindset. Because this had been almost embarrassingly easy. They both still had their pants on.

"Did you – " Walter asked, looking surprised.

"Yeah," she said. "Yeah, I did."

"Damn."

She knew that look. That was his turned on look. He found her current easiness _hot_.

He was running a hand up and down her leg, almost absentmindedly, but there was no denying how wound he was. Paige's hands went to the waistband of her leggings. Walter reached out and motioned for her to stop. "Couch."

"Good idea."

She hopped off the desk, slightly wobbly, and followed him to the living area. He undid his belt, his pants dropping to his ankles before he sat down. Eager, Paige straddled him, her fingers going to his nipples, and he groaned into her mouth as she kissed him again, deeply. She realized moments later that he was trying to say something, and she stopped kissing him. "Is this okay?"

"Of course it's okay," he said, his tone almost sounding like he was snapping at her. Walter squirmed, trying to maneuver out of his boxers without moving her, and Paige lifted up, giving him more freedom. He grunted quietly as they finally slid down his hips to his knees. Paige reached down, easing them both into position, and then lowered herself, slowly at first; she was obviously turned on enough, but was still feeling, at least a little bit, like they were making a huge mistake. They shouldn't be doing this. They should be staying away from each other, and staying cool and professional when their paths crossed.

But mind over matter was difficult when her body wanted his so damn much, and there was _nothing_ more attractive – or flattering – than the sound he made as she surrounded him.

Matter won out.

Paige pressed her knees into his hips and rocked hers, tipping her head back and gasping. She felt like every atom in her body was its own nerve and every movement of him beneath her _exactly_ right. Her nails dug into his skin, leaving marks down his chest, and when her hands reached his nipples again she massaged them between her thumb and index finger and watched his eyes roll back in his head.

"More," Walter gasped. "Please more."

She increased her pace, dropping farther down, and she could tell by the feeling of fingernails digging into her hips that she was doing exactly what he wanted. But of course she was. She knew him well. She knew exactly how to get him exactly like this, an _oh_ accompanying his every breath, the sweat breaking out on his brow, and the tight grip his hands had on her.

"Paige, stop a second," he said after a few minutes, and she did, stilling immediately even though her body was desperate to keep moving. "What's wrong?"

"Are you still on the pill?"

Shit. "No," she said, biting her lip. "Do you have anything?"

"I don't. Do you?"

"No." She frowned. "Ugh, I don't want to stop."

"Just…just give me a minute." Walter stared up at the ceiling, taking long deep breaths, his cheeks puffing out slightly as he exhaled. Paige stayed still. She wanted to reach out and run her hand through his hair. She wanted to soothe him, encourage him to just breathe and relax. She couldn't do either of those things. She was his hook up, not his girlfriend.

"Okay," Walter said, reaching up and tucking some hair behind her ear. "I'm good."

"Don't do that," she said. "Too much intimacy."

It could be argued that that was a rather ironic statement, she supposed, considering he was inside her, but while Walter's preferred euphemism was _being intimate,_ sex didn't have to have any extra intimacy. And given their history, it was best they keep it that way.

She started moving again, partly for relief, partly because she didn't want him to argue with her. Paige set a new pace, slower this time but not slow by any means. She would regret this tomorrow. She hadn't used her body like this in months. Not since the last time they were together. Not since the night after they'd said they were the loves of each other's lives.

But she'd get herself in trouble if she let herself go there, just as she'd get herself in trouble if she let herself think about the woman who was probably sleeping next door right now. Walter hadn't slept with the chemist. He would have disclosed that to her. He had a lot of flaws, but the first night they were together, as unsexy as some might have considered it, he'd told her about the two other women – a sex worker when he was twenty – four, and then his ex, Janice. He'd promised her he was clean. That honesty had been very important to him. If there had been someone since they were last together, he would have said so before he'd allowed this to happen.

At least, she was pretty sure.

Paige whined in frustration. She'd been getting close again, but thinking about Janice and Florence – especially Florence – had killed some of that. She moved her hips faster, wanting to build it back up. Walter was agreeable, matching her with his own thrusts, pulling her down to kiss him again. It occurred to Paige that this counted as intimacy. But she'd never had that much self – control when it came to kissing him.

So she allowed it.

And she allowed herself to consider it that – an allowance, and not what she desperately wanted to do anyway.

"Are you close, L…"

She knew what three letters he'd stopped from coming out of his mouth. She nodded. "Almost." He nodded back, closing his eyes, and she felt him tense. "Do we need to – "

He shook his head rapidly. "No, I can hold it."

_Well, that's a relief, _Paige thought, because she wasn't sure she could stop her body from moving now if she tried. She was right back on the edge, and she pressed her lips together, whimpering, needing just a little more stimulation. As if he was reading her mind, Walter moved his lips to her neck, sucking on just the right spot.

Her climax was so intense Paige swore she blacked out for a moment, brought back only by the urgency in Walter's voice. Still feeling the aftershocks, she lifted up and swung her leg over, kneeling on the seat cushion next to him. Walter gave a loud grunt, then let out several deep breaths, his hands flat on the couch. Paige cocked her head, confused.

He turned his head toward her. "Come back over here."

"Do you want me to – " She trailed off, unsure if she should offer her hand or mouth and hoping he would finish the sentence for her.

"I want you to get back on me."

"We don't have a condom."

"Paige." His voice sounded strained. "Please. I don't care if I can't come. I just want to feel you around me."

"Are you sure you can hold out? When was the last time?"

"Yes. If anything, you can do what you just did. Please come back over here."

Paige stared at him, then slowly moved closer, putting her leg back over him and lowering herself. She stopped almost immediately, only the tip of him inside her, and Walter gave her an agonized look. "That's basically torture."

"Are you _sure_ this is what you want?"

"Yes. God, yes."

"Okay." She sunk down slowly, watching his face, God, why did he have to act like she was some kind of paradise when all she wanted to do was keep telling herself all the reasons why they were no good for each other? She bit her lip, realizing when she felt pain that she'd been biting it a lot since she walked into the garage.

"You have to go slow," Walter said, his eyes only half open.

"Are you going to make it?"

He nodded.

"You can't finish in me."

"I know. I won't."

"Okay." She started to move again, the thought of how sore she was going to be in the morning still floating through her brain. She thought of how sore they used to willingly make themselves, and how worth it it always felt to watch the other in ecstasy.

"God, Paige," Walter whispered, his fingers still dancing on her skin.

"Good?" She asked. Her second orgasm had been recently enough that she could still feel her muscles twitching around him, ever so slightly.

"Nothing," he began, closing his eyes and groaning quietly before continuing, "feels as good as you feel."

She smiled, telling herself that she only did so because it was polite.

Walter was good at self – control. Paige couldn't even begin to guess how long they remained like that, her moving slowly, his fingers flexing on her skin. Paige's body was starting to find a second wind, and she had to will herself not to pick up the pace. Walter might be good at self – control, but that might go out the window if she did anything he wasn't expecting. That was always a fun angle to play at when they were together, with multiple forms of birth control, but it was a dangerous game at present.

"Oh God, oh God," Walter kept whispering, so quiet she could barely hear him. She smiled despite herself, absentmindedly lifting a hand to one of his nipples.

"_Oh_ shit." Walter gasped, his stomach muscles tightening. It occurred to Paige that she was playing with fire, but she found something incredibly thrilling about seeing how far she could push him. She increased her temp just slightly, slowing periodically to allow him to penetrate her deeper. She could tell by his face, the way he moved under her, and his moans that she was driving him as crazy as she could possibly risk.

"Don't come," she reminded him.

"I won't. I won't."

But she might. Every move they made was like throwing gasoline on an existing inferno. Even the guilt Paige felt at their current 2-0 record was no longer doing much to stop it, and she didn't have the kind of willpower that he had. "Walter…" She started.

"Stop," Walter said suddenly, and she groaned in frustration as she did so. She opened her mouth to speak at the same time he spoke again, his voice urgent. "Oh no. Get off. Get off."

She listened, springing up and away from him. He grunted, reaching down to wrap around himself and squeeze. "Walter, just let it…"

"I'm okay," he said, sucking in another deep breath.

"Walter, just let me – " She still hadn't decided what she was going to offer, but at the very moment she cut herself off, they both jumped at the sound of her cell phone going off.

It was Ralph. The school was considering shutting down for the rest of the day due to a threatening note sent by a student.

It was probably an intended prank with no planned follow through. But they couldn't be too careful. Walter urged her to go pick up her son.

So she left, unsure if she should text him a proper goodbye, or an awkward _thank you for getting me off_ text, or if she should say anything at all.

She did text him, eight days later. But it was an entirely different kind of message than she'd ever dreamed she'd be sending.

* * *

Paige's hands pressed into the mattress, a loud grunt accompanying her closing her eyes and dropping her head. Walter was behind her, a hand on her back, his hips moving rhythmically back and forth. He could reach _that_ spot inside her from this angle, and it was all Paige could do not to come apart already, only a minute or so after he'd first pushed into her. There wasn't much she could do for him on her hands and knees, but she rocked back and forth in time with him, glad they'd made it up to the bedroom this time because this would have been much less comfortable on the floor.

Walter's other hand was on her hip, helping to guide the motion. Normally, she considered herself the more dominant one, but she never complained when he took control. Especially now. Now she just wanted to get what she'd come for, regardless of how it happened.

And she was close to it, too, and she knew Walter was well aware. Her moans were rising in pitch, and he increased the pace in response, drawing her exponentially closer. "Don't stop," she said, her vision blurring. "Please don't stop."

"Come for me," he said, and while she briefly wondered if he'd nearly said the other word again, her body seemingly obeyed his command and she couldn't have put a coherent thought together if she tried. When she was aware of herself again, her arms had dropped, her cheek was resting on the mattress, and she was drooling ever so slightly. Walter was still moving inside her. And it all felt incredible.

"More," she said. "Fast. More." Sometimes in this position, aggressive action could bring her over again almost immediately. Walter obeyed, pumping his hips rapidly, his own groans growing louder. Paige was brought right to the edge again, everything so good but so sensitive tears sprang to her eyes. "Oh," she moaned, realizing the sound seemed pained when Walter stopped. "No," she said, feeling suddenly frustrated as the good feeling subsided. "Walter, don't stop," she begged, even though he already had. She pushed back up on her arms, looking over her shoulder at him. "Walter?"

He was breathing hard, staring at her. "I'm sorry," he said. "But if I felt you do that again it was going to be over."

She'd forgotten a condom again. This was nearing the tenth time they'd done this, and the third time this week after a previous pattern of once every ten days or so, and she always forgotten to bring protection. The one time Walter had initiated a tryst, he'd snuck one from Toby, but it had broken when he'd tried to put it on. "You should have taken an extra," she'd chided him thirty minutes after she'd arrived, as he was breathing hard, trying to dial himself back so they could keep it up. This time was completely, inarguably Paige's fault, and that made the loss of her orgasm all the more frustrating. If she'd stopped at the damn store on her way over she'd be seeing colors that didn't exist right about now. "Walter," she said, patting the mattress next to her.

He looked surprised. "On…my stomach?"

"No, not that, just lay down."

"Oh. Okay." He did as she asked, looking up at her as she crawled over him. She settled on top of him, sliding down toward his hips until he was between her legs, his shaft running parallel to her slit. She flexed her hips, creating slight movement, as she dropped her head to his neck, her tongue flicking against the spot where he was most sensitive.

"Oh," Walter gasped, his hips jerking involuntarily. Paige moved a hand to his chest, finding one of his nipples, her finger moving in a similar fashion to her tongue as she continued moving her hips enough to rub against him.

"My God," he breathed, sliding a hand up into her hair, cradling the back of her head. Paige flinched internally, realizing how intimate this was and immediately regretting her decision. But she strongly suspected that he wasn't finishing himself off after she left, and they'd decided at their second meeting that oral action was off limits. It was too much. Too intimate.

She kept kissing his neck, sucking on the skin at his sensitive spots and feeling him writhe beneath her. She was driving him absolutely mad, and she loved it, especially knowing that this time he would finally get payoff. She pushed up, contorting herself enough to get her head down to his chest, and she ran her tongue over his nipple, hearing him gasp and feeling his body go rigid for just a moment. She recognized what he was doing. "Walter, just let it happen."

"Sorry. Habit." His eyes closed again and he groaned. "Oh god," he said, drawing each word out as she continued moving her tongue. "Can I go back inside you?"

"How close are you?"

"Not too close."

She raised an eyebrow at him, smiling wryly as she shifted her position just slightly, allowing him to enter her. She sat up, taking him fully within her, moving her hips from side to side first, her hands on his stomach.

She was half tempted to keep going until he couldn't hold out any longer, then get up at the last moment and use her hand if she needed to.

The earthquake threw a wrench in those plans. Both Scorpion and Centipede were needed to help.

* * *

Paige found herself back at the garage just hours later. The two situations their teams had been called to had only gone moderately well. There were several people in the hospital; they'd been hurt severely in car crashes caused by the earthquake and there was nothing Scorpion or Centipede could have done differently, but she still felt guilty that they were suffering. When she was upset, she usually got sleepy or horny, lead ups to one of the two coping mechanisms that worked best for her.

Today, sleep wasn't the coping mechanism her body wanted.

Walter looked up from his desk, surprised to see her. "Did you text me? Wait," he said, frowning as she opened her mouth to answer. "You were here six hours ago."

"I know. But I just…today…it was difficult."

"Agreed. We have several people in the hospital from our site."

"Same here. Everyone should make it, though.

"Same for us."

"Good." She fidgeted, playing with the zipper on her coat that was slung over her arm. She dropped it on the ground, hopping up on Walter's desk and leaning forward, putting her lips on his so fast and in one motion so smooth that she could tell he hadn't seen it coming. "Walter, I need you so much."

"You…were just…here," he said between kisses.

"You mind?" She asked, reaching down with one of her hands to touch his belt buckle.

"God, no."

Paige gave him what she hoped was a mischievous look as she – slightly clumsily – undid his belt. Walter ran a hand through her hair as she undid the button and zipper, and then he lifted his hips shoved the pants and boxers down and stepped out of them while she crawled the rest of the way over the desk and pulled her skirt and underwear down in one motion. Putting a hand on his chest, Paige straddled him, her legs slipping as she took him in, each leg wedged between the arm and the back of the chair. She gripped the curls on the back of his head.

"God," Walter groaned, his head tipping back at the same time she felt greater pressure from his fingertips against her hips.

"Make me forget my case," she panted against his ear, "and I'll make you forget yours."

"Deal," he groaned, his breath hot against her neck. He slid a hand between them, rubbing her breasts through their clothes, and Paige wished she'd taken off her shirt and bra. She pumped her hips, kissing him as much as possible while getting in enough air, loving the way his lips buzzed against hers when he moaned. Her body was as eager as it had been earlier, and she decided she liked this, this no – strings – attached sex. They may have been bad for each other, but they were good at this, and now they were doing _this_ without any of _that_.

Walter had removed his lips from hers seconds earlier, and only when he barked her name did she realize he'd been talking to her.

"What?" She murmured, delirious from the sensations their bodies were creating, unsure of what it was he'd said.

Walter stiffened. "Oh no. Oh no."

She heard the panic in his voice and suddenly realized the word _stop_ was what had rushed through his lips a half dozen times in a couple of seconds. Throwing herself back, she tried to jump up, but her legs were wedged into the chair, preventing her from getting up, and her jaw dropped in horror when Walter groaned, his hips spasming under her. Walter's eyes were rolled back in their sockets, and although he was currently incapable of responding to her, she still snapped his name at him, continuing to struggle and get off of him even though it was too late. He slowly came back to himself, and their wide eyes met. "I'm sorry," Walter said quickly, the words rushing from his mouth. "I'm sorry, I tried, I'm sorry."

"Oh God." Paige struggled again against the arms, and Walter reached down, popping them out of place. Finally free, Paige jumped up, scrambling to grab the tissue box from the desk. "What the _hell_, Walter," she snapped, suddenly angry as she shoved the tissue between her legs. _If he hadn't kept stopping himself before maybe he'd have lasted this time._ "What are we, fifteen?"

His embarrassed apologies ceased, his eyes flashing in anger. "Is that your default insult now?"

She realized the night that she had broken up with him she'd likened him to a boy. "I'm just saying," she said, not entirely sure what exactly she was just saying. She cleared her throat. "You're the one who doesn't have condoms, so you're supposed to pull out."

"Okay," he snapped, getting to his feet and pulling his boxers and pants back up. "First of all, when we were together, we both got the condoms. _And_ you were on the pill. I'm sorry I haven't been keeping a bunch of the things stocked but I'm not usually a casual intimacy kind of guy."

"You weren't supposed to come inside me."

"You were supposed to stop when I said so."

"Forgive me for getting caught up in the moment. I can't get pregnant off what I'm feeling. That's on you. Don't fuck me if you can't control yourself."

He wagged his finger at her. "We've done this how many times now? And we've always gotten it right. But you're gonna call me a child when this happens once. Doesn't even matter how many times we get it right, huh? As soon as we mess up, I'm that fifteen year old boy again, who is never going to be good enough."

"It doesn't matter how many times we get it right. It only takes once," Paige said shortly. "What if I get pregnant? What are you going to do then?"

"I would do whatever it is you asked of me and _you know it._"

"Good. But I hope we get lucky because the _last_ thing I need right now is major surgery or another kid with no father."

"Don't you dare compare me to Drew." Walter glared at her. "I'll give you the money for an emergency contraceptive, but don't you act like if we had a child together I would run off and not care. It's not _my_ fault we're not in a relationship anymore."

"Yes it is," Paige said. "Just because I was the one to end things doesn't mean it wasn't your fault."

"It was partly my fault. And this was partly your fault," Walter said. "And I think you know that, even if you won't admit it."

Paige sighed, moving to shove her hands into her pockets before realizing she didn't have any pockets. She reached for her skirt and underwear. "I guess I got carried away."

"We've both been getting carried away," he pointed out, biting the side of his lower lip.

Paige was glad he didn't ask if she meant today, that night, or both. She nodded. "You're right. We've been way too reckless about this." She was quiet a moment, then cocked her head. "It's possible this is the worst timing to say this, but I don't want to stop doing it."

"Me either."

"So…"

"We do it differently going forward. No riskiness."

"Whoever solicits the other brings protection?" Walter asked.

"Agreed," Paige said.

"And we don't do it if we forget, or if it breaks."

"I can get back on the pill," she said. "And when we meet…not here."

Walter looked confused. "Your place?"

"No. We find a hotel. We alternate paying for it."

"Okay. Speaking…speaking of paying…" Walter grabbed his pants and fished around in the pocket. He pulled out his wallet and handed her some bills. "Go get Emergen C or whatever brand they have."

Paige laughed in spite of herself. "Plan B, Walter. Emergen C is a vitamin supplement."

"Oh. Right. Well, you should probably get that, too. Vitamins are important."

"I'll be sure to consider it." She grabbed her coat. "I need to go get…that stuff."

"Do you want me to accompany you?"

"No. I think it's best if you didn't."

"Okay." Walter took a step toward her. "Paige?"

She sighed. "What, Walter."

"I _am_ sorry."

She gave him a slow nod. "I know you are." She reached out, putting a hand on his arm. "And you probably couldn't even fully enjoy it, huh. Knowing we'd messed up."

"That is correct." He bit his lip again. "And I feel guilty for enjoying it even a little."

"Well. Next time." She leaned forward and pecked his cheek. "Next time I'll make it up to you."

He gave a small smile. "Right back at you, Dineen."

"I'll text you, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll text you."


	2. Safe

**Hey. Been a while.**

**Turns out my general dislike for writing smut is even WORSE when it's unattached, distant smut. If I'm writing sex, I need to write emotional, tender sex or else my writing process is basically "write 100 words, feel awkward, shelve fic for another week." There's nothing at all wrong with casual sexual encounters but man am I horrible at actually writing them. But I did start this fic with an endgame in mind, and in order to get to that point, I need to write the journey.**

**So here ya go, readers. Enjoy our OTP going to town on each other.**

* * *

"Hey." Paige lifted her chin slightly. "Been a while."

Walter nodded. "Fifteen days."

"It's been busy. Lots of jobs. You know."

"Oh yes. Scorpion is so busy I barely had time to make this reservation."

Paige hoped for her company's sake that he was lying through his teeth as much as she was. Sure, she'd been busy, but less with Centipede missions and more with utilities in her condo failing, a teenaged son who she couldn't even be pleased with for understanding her side of the breakup because he also understood Walter's, and consoling Sylvester when he would get irrationally sad at random occurrences.

Then, of course, there was watching Toby and Happy desperately pour over adoption pamphlets, trying to expedite the process in any way they could. Paige had allowed herself to wonder, once and briefly, if they were so frantic about adopting quickly because they wanted to build their family's numbers back up, after the loss of three people.

Well, two people. Happy, to Paige's delight, didn't consider Homewrecker Tipton to be part of the original Scorpion.

Paige had also spent the better part of the past week taking pregnancy test after pregnancy test, even though it had been too soon by almost any standards. Thankfully, on day nine, she'd gotten the only real confirmation that their mistake hadn't forced her into a difficult decision. Now, fifteen days after their last encounter, she was both prepared and needy.

Toby loved telling that joke about how you got Dick out of Richard by asking him nicely. Walter just required a fairly polite text.

Walter was standing near the foot of the bed, his hands in his pockets. It was up to him, they'd decided, to pay for the first hotel stay. He'd paid cash, given them a fake name for the woman who would be picking up the second key, and Paige arrived thirty minutes later. This was planned – way more so – than their previous post relationship encounters. That made it awkward.

Way more so.

Paige dropped her purse on the luggage stand tucked in the closet space and pulled her shirt over her head. She'd tugged her bra off in the car and shoved it under her seat.

Walter looked surprised. "What – "

"Well, we're not here for a business meeting," she said. "Why aren't you naked already?"

"S…sorry." He fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. "Sorry. Sorry."

He appeared nervous. Paige snapped her fingers. "What's your problem?"

"Nothing. N – nothing."

"Walt, it's not like we haven't done it before."

"No. I just mean, I was sitting here waiting for you and that let my mind run all over the place and I just…" he shook his head, finally getting the final button done and hesitating. "I got into my head a bit." Sliding his arms out of the sleeves, he dropped the shirt on the chair by the desk. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." She wiggled herself out of her jeans and strode toward him. He looked up from his belt buckle as she approached, making another sound of surprise when she shoved him backward against the wall, pressing their bare chests together and cupping his face in her hands as she kissed him on the mouth. This was the only way to get him out of his head that didn't involve sitting down, talking, holding his hand and being softly encouraging.

And they weren't in a relationship anymore. She didn't need any of that mushy crap.

Walter responded quickly. His hands ran over her skin, and he groaned when she moved her lips to his neck in a way that she knew his eyes were rolling back in their head. The fact that she'd left her underwear on seemed to be even more of a turn on, as his fingertips located the fabric against her hips and twisted it around them while a low sound came from deep in his throat. He pushed her back from the wall, and Paige felt the backs of her legs hit the mattress a split second before he was pushing her down on it and putting his mouth on one of her breasts like his life depended on it.

And anyone that knew Walter knew how he got when lives were at risk. Paige gasped, throwing her head back, resisting the urge to put her fingers in his hair and instead pressing them against the comforter. Her legs wrapped around him, tightening like a vice, and her mouth fell open though no sound came from it. One of his hands came up to her other breast and she felt like she was going to combust.

Walter's other hand was tugging his belt loose, and he straightened up just long enough to get the waist of his pants from above his hips to his ankles before leaning back over her and tugging her underwear down, bending one of her legs at the knee and pushing inside her. "Yes," Paige breathed as he filled her, her body shuddering in the relief of getting what it wanted. She squeaked when he started to move, faster than he usually did, leaning over her and resting his weight on his hands as his hips pumped against hers. Paige whimpered, running her hands along his chest and stomach and closing her eyes, because looking up would mean seeing him, and that was too much. Too intimate. Too off limits.

She was here for orgasms. That was it. "More," she breathed, her hips moving at a tempo to match his. "More."

"Condom," Walter said, a moment before stilling his hips and shifting his weight enough to get off of her. Paige's eyes widened as she sat up, realizing how close they'd possibly come to messing up _again._ "Shit."

"You were supposed to – "

"I did." She got up – shakily – and walked over to where she'd left her purse. She growled in frustration when the zipper caught, then shoved her hand inside and pulled out the box. She tossed it to Walter, debated for a moment if she was going to mess with fixing the zipper now or later, and then decided on later. She turned back around to see Walter putting the condom on – and wondered if it was strange that she found that incredibly hot.

"Lay down," she told him, and when he'd complied, she straddled him, facing his feet. She wasn't sure why she had such an aversion to looking at him, but she told herself he would enjoy the view he'd get this way, and now that they had protection, he could enjoy it as much as he wanted.

She used her hands on his thighs for balance as she moved, setting a pace that began slower than they had been going earlier, but quickly moving back up to that. Her body was crying for more stimulation, and although she couldn't see most of Walter, she could tell by the way his nails were digging into her skin and the way his moans were growing higher that he was getting close, too. Paige gritted her teeth, willing herself to hold out, because she didn't want this to stop and she had a feeling that if she finished first, it would bring Walter over, too. Her determination didn't make much of a difference, and her last coherent thought before her body overtook her brain was newfound appreciation for how long Walter had successfully done this unprotected.

She heard Walter groan as she was regaining her ability to think, but when she moved off of him, kneeling beside his hip on the mattress, she realized he hadn't finished when she did. She took a few more breaths, then reached out and took him in her hand. "Less sensitivity with this on?"

"Not really," Walter said. She moved her hand, slowly up and down, and his eyes went half closed as a quiet grunt escaped him. "I think we built up my stamina pretty well…the last weeks."

"Mmmm." Made sense. Paige watched him as she continued, wondering why she didn't mind doing so when he wasn't inside her. She pushed that thought away. It didn't matter. People minded things for a variety of reasons.

"Remember when…" she trailed off immediately, coughing in the hope he wouldn't have heard her speak.

"Remember when what?" He asked.

She wracked her brain for something to say. What she was remembering was the first time she'd given him a hand job – he was her first who wasn't cut – and she'd marveled at the difference in a way that she hadn't intended to be funny, but he'd laughed anyway, and not in a way that was making fun of her. That laugh was his 'you're adorable' laugh, one of his many affection laughs, and that memory, as sexual as it could be stripped down to be, still wasn't one she wanted to dredge up.

Because intimacy.

"Remember…ha, look at that," she said, "I can't even remember what I was going to say."

He reached down his body, closing his fingers around her wrist. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She removed his hand from her wrist and scooted up slightly so she could place it on one of her breasts. "But don't take too long. I have a meeting later."

* * *

By their third hotel meetup, they'd gotten the process down. The good thing about meeting up with someone who you knew was going to give it to you good meant Paige required little foreplay by the time they got down to it. She drove to the hotel already practically jumping out of her skin in anticipation. She checked in, informed the desk that Arjun Bhatt would be joining her, and headed up to the room. Once there, she pulled her hair out of the ponytail, shook it out, and removed her shirt and skirt. She laid on the bed, on her side, watching the door. Walter, as expected, arrived right on time. "Hello," he said, his eyes scanning her.

She smiled. "Same me as on Tuesday. Just the way you like it." He smiled, taking off his jacket and pulling his sweatshirt over his head. "Sweatshirt?" Paige asked. "Slow day?"

"I was working on a project at the office."

She shook her head. "Couldn't even dress up for me, huh?"

It was a joke, but she still felt something unpleasant inside when he replied, "we aren't dating, remember." She refrained from making a snarky comment. Because he was right.

"Well, we are doing _something_," she said, sitting up and undoing her bra before scooting back against the pillows and lifting her hips to pull down her underwear. "So let's get to doing that, huh?"

"Yes," he said, stepping out of his trousers and crawling over her. He dropped his lips to her neck, a hand sliding down her leg. Settling between her hips, he ground against her, a quiet groan accompanying the hot breath against her neck, and she closed her eyes and pushed her hips up as she felt his body responding to hers. "Careful," she gasped in warning to him to not leave marks on her neck. She pushed on his chest, and he lifted up, rolling onto his back and pulling her with him. She slid her hand into his boxers, her mouth on the same spot on his neck as he'd been on hers.

"Oh, God," Walter sighed, a hand sliding into her hair. "Paige."

She wanted the same thing he did. She sat up. "Take these off," she said, "I have an idea."

"Hmm, yeah?"

Paige went to her purse, digging through to the inside zipper where she'd been keeping the kind of toys Happy and Toby would not be giving to their child. She pulled both of them out, holding them up in front of her face and smirking at Walter through the gap between them.

"Oh," Walter said, a glint in his eyes. He'd shed his boxers and dropped them on the floor next to the bed.

Paige crawled onto the bed, selected the one with flared end and held it out. "Put this in your ass, and I'll be right back."

Walter raised an eyebrow as he took it from her. "That wording is much cruder than you normally are."

Paige shrugged. "This isn't our normal relationship. So…"

He stared at her for a moment. "Fair enough, I suppose. Do you have lube?"

"Uh…" She got off the bed and resumed diggin around in her purse. "Will hand sanitizer work? I'm kidding," she said, holding up a hand at the horrified look on his face. "This is lube. Here."

"Thanks."

Paige went into the bathroom, washing her hands and face and rinsing off the other vibrator. She returned to the bed. She could tell from the low buzzing and his half – closed eyes that Walter had already turned his on.

She straddled his thighs. She'd given him the flared one, but she still wanted to keep an eye on it. The last thing this on – the – down – low meeting needed was an awkward trip to the Emergency Room. "Let's make it a contest," she said, rubbing his hip as she switched her toy on and pressed it against her clit. "First person to finish loses."

"Hey," Walter said. "If I'd known this was the game, I wouldn't have turned mine on already."

"It's on the low setting," she said. "I mean, you're still going to lose, but not because you already had it on."

He rolled his eyes. "What does the winner get?"

"Pride," she said, smirking. She reached out with her free hand to stroke him with the tip of her finger. Walter sighed. "Watch it," he mumbled, "that's cheating."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"Mmm, no."

"Okay, then." She would win.

Walter reached down, grabbing her wrist and using it to press the vibrator more firmly against her. "Hey," Paige said, her breath quickening.

"All's fair."

"I suppose." She sucked in a deep breath, reaching down to click Walter's up a notch. He grunted. "There's still two more levels, remember."

He leaned his head back against the pillow. "You're mean."

Paige closed her eyes, sighing and pushing her hips against the vibrator. "Shit, that's good." Walter's hand and slid up to hold the toy, so she let go of it and put both her hands on his thighs, pressing down as her body shuddered pleasantly. "God."

"Oh, my God," Walter sighed, his free hand gripping her knee. "More."

"More? Do you want to lose?"

"Do you?"

Fair enough. Paige wrapped her hand around him. The combination of stimulation usually got him quickly. That was good for her, because she wanted to win, and Walter knew exactly how to get her off this way, too, and he was doing his damndest to make her finish first. She closed her eyes, gritting her teeth and trying to focus on him. She clicked the toy up again, at near max intensity, and pinched the bottom of it between her fingers, beginning to thrust it at the same pace as her other hand was moving along his shaft.

"Shit," Walter groaned.

"Ow," she said, flinching at his nails against her skin.

"Sorry," he apologized, the pads of his fingers tracing over the painful spots.

"Don't…" Paige moaned, then grunted. _Stay under control._ "Don't do that."

Walter was panting. "Do what?"

"Touch me like that." It was too intimate. That wasn't what they were doing here.

"How about…like this…then?" He clicked the top of the vibrator, simultaneously quickening the movement of his hand.

Paige groaned, moving her hand to press against his hip. "Oh God." _Do not lose. _She whimpered, then gasped, leaning forward, wanting to reach down and test him, but not trusting herself to move. "Oh, God." Walter's chest was heaving, but she was closer. She bit her lip, grunting again, then gave out, trembling violently and closing her eyes when her vision blurred.

"Ah ha," Walter said. "I win."

She pushed the toy away; it felt uncomfortable now. "Congratulations," she gasped, her mind mildly annoyed at her body's thorough satisfaction. "What do you want?"

He put his hands on her hips. She understood. "Yeah. Yeah, okay. But…" she turned his toy up again, to the maximum, and watched Walter's abdomen tense in response. She scooted up, straddling him and slowly sinking down. Her body was still recovering, but God, she welcomed this. They were right to keep doing this. Why throw away something that felt _this _good just because Walter wasn't capable of handling anything else. She began to move, hands on her hips, tipping her head back and sighing. Walter's hands slid up and down her legs, around to grip her rear, then up over her stomach. She looked down at him. She always loved watching him respond to her. He was close now, the combined stimulation finally getting to him, his eyes rolling back in his head as his body trembled beneath her. He kept moaning until she removed the toy. "I'm sweating so much," she said with a little laugh.

"I noticed," he said.

"Sorry." Walter's chest was still heaving, and the back of one of his hands was resting against his forehead. "Are you okay?"

He nodded, closing his eyes. "I'm remembering why we don't use those like that a lot."

"Wears you right out, huh?" She said with a smile. "Feels good, though."

"Uh, huh." He sat up, scooting so he could lean against the headboard. "You can shower first."

"I'd say you could shower with me, but…"

"But I'm not gonna be able to do anything else today," he said with a chuckle. "Although maybe you should let me anyway, considering I won our little game."

* * *

Paige pulled the condom out of her bag and tossed it at Walter, who, surprisingly given his track record with that particular skill, caught it. "So how's your week been?" He asked as he sat on the bed, making a show of reading what was on the wrapper even though he knew damn well what it said.

Paige had known he was going to ask and she'd had a response planned, but what came out was the truth. "I had a date," she blurted.

Walter paused with a hand on his belt. "Okay."

"Guy named Tenny."

"_Tenny_?"

"Yeah. He's handsome, funny. It went well."

"Good. Happy for you. Why are you telling me this?" Walter furrowed his brow, then gestured between them. "Should I be…either of us be…concerned?"

He was asking if she needed to be tested. "Oh. No. We didn't do anything that would require that. Just…you know." She held up her hand with two fingers pressed together.

"Hmm."

She paused. "Does that…bother you?"

"No."

"No?"

"Nope." Walter looked at his feet. "He good to you?"

"He's a nice man."

"Wasn't what I was asking. Was he…" Paige saw his Adam's Apple bob as he swallowed. "Was he _good_ to you?"

Oh. Paige bit her lip. He'd tried. She wanted to lie to Walter, say Tenny's fingers were more magical than anything Walter could do with anything he had, but she refused to give credit where it wasn't due. "He made an effort. There's a reason I'm here."

Walter looked pleased at what she was implying.

Paige wanted to tell him to not get ahead of himself. But, well…there _was_ a reason she was here. She was wound, unsatisfied, and suddenly self – conscious about coming straight here from Tenny's condo. "Uh…maybe I should wash up first."

Walter looked incredulous. "Did you text me from his place?"

"No," she said quickly, then she faltered. "From his parking lot. Walter," she said quickly as his face changed. "Just let me shower. It'll take five minutes."

"No," he said, shrugging and standing up, walking over to her. "No reason to shower twice. And you'll, uh, need it once we're finished here." His eyes were dark, staring deep into hers, and she felt a twinge that was only partially due to the tension she'd come here needing relief from. He spoke again, his voice low. "Once _I'm_ finished with you."

"Just…" She put a finger on his chest, sliding out from between him and the wall and going into the bathroom. She had to at least get a wash clotch. It had been hot in the condo, and she foolishly didn't have any deodorant in her purse. Running the cloth under the cold water, she dabbed at her underarms.

She'd left the door open, and Walter walked in behind her, his hands going to her hips and running over them. She felt his lips on the back of her neck, and she dropped the wash cloth, placing her hands on the counter top, her head raised just enough to see him in the mirror. They should have used mirrors when they were together, she thought, because she found being able to watch as his lips traveled around to her shoulder and his hands slid up and down her body hotter than anything Tenny had managed to do.

Paige realized she'd be comparing any man she slept with in the future to Walter. She also realized if things went anywhere with Tenny, this would have to stop.

She decided she wouldn't go on another date with that man. This was too good to stop doing, and it had the added benefit of no commitment. She chose to not think about what would happen should _Walter_ find himself in a new romantic entanglement.

Right now, however, the only entanglements they had were with each other. Paige whimpered as he slid a hand down between her legs, in the same way Tenny had barely an hour earlier after her decision to kiss him in his kitchen had gotten out of hand. She'd quivered in anticipation then, too, excited by the prospect of a new lover. This time, the heavy breath she exhaled was from the knowledge of exactly what she would get from Walter. His other hand slid around her body, squeezing one of her breasts, and she could hear how heavily he was breathing, just from touching her.

Yes. They were right to continue this part of what they'd had before. It would be a damn, damn shame to let this go to waste.

"Get up on it," Walter whispered, and she thought he meant _him_ until he turned her around and lifted her onto the counter. Stepping close, he ran his hand over her thigh again before putting his other one behind her neck as he pushed two fingers inside her and dropped his lips to her jawline.

"God, yes," she managed, closing her eyes and moving her hips along with the motion from his hand. She knew most of the credit went to experience with her, but damn, did he know exactly what to do. "More, please more," she gasped, pressing her cheek against his and curling her fingers tightly around his hair while she used her other arm to brace herself. "I need it so bad."

His thumb rubbed against her while his fingers stroked inside, and she made a sound that immediately caused embarrassment, clapping her hand over her mouth and almost toppling backward at the sudden shift of balance. Walter grabbed hold of her, keeping them upright, quickening the motion of his thumb and drawing the same sound out of her again as her muscles fluttered around his hand. Paige gasped, moaning again as she came down from it, staring at him almost incredulously when he backed away. "Holy shit," she breathed. "Holy shit."

"Holy shit," he repeated, his face flushed, his eyes taking her in hungrily.

Paige pulled him to her by the waistband of his boxers. "Take these off."

Walter did as she said, stepping between her knees. Paige slid a hand down his body, stopping just above his hips, then slid it back up to roll one of his nipples between her fingers. She ran a finger of her other hand lightly down his stomach, and his abdominal muscles clenched when she applied light pressure as she traced the length of his erect shaft. She wrapped her hand around him, watching his eyes close briefly and then open to fixate on her. It made her self conscious, so she looked down, watching herself stimulate him. "You seem pretty wound yourself," she commented in a low voice. Her body now satisfied, she found herself embarrassed at both her earlier desperation and how quickly he was able to get her off. She felt a need to get control back. And she knew how to do it.

"I am," Walter said.

"I can feel that." She tensed her hand, moving it quickly almost in place, simulating her vibrators. His knees buckled, and his hands gripped the side of the counter as he groaned. She smiled, leaning forward and running her tongue around his nipple before closing her lips and sucking lightly on it. She slid her hand lower, massaging him before moving it back up and resuming the stroking motion.

"Please," he groaned, his knees buckling again, "I want to be inside you."

"How badly?" she asked, rubbing him with her thumb where she knew he was extra sensitive.

He groaned again, closing his eyes. "You know how badly."

"Maybe, if you can hold off until I'm done doing this."

"God, please don't do this again," he begged, "it's torture."

"More torture than if I just stopped? Didn't think so," she said when he pressed his lips together and didn't respond.

"Paige," he whined, making an agonized sound that she could have mistakenly identified as crying if she didn't know better.

"Does this _not_ feel good?" She asked, the smirk back on her face.

Walter was gasping. "It's too good." He groaned again, holding most of his weight on his arms. Paige rubbed him with her thumb again. She felt Walter's teeth against her neck. "Please," he groaned. "Please let me."

"Do you have the condom, or is it in the other room?"

The sound he made in response was closer to true agony, telling her the answer. "Thankfully," she said, "there's another in the bag."

Walter's head shot up, and he reached for her toiletries bag that sat on the counter, locating the condoms, he grabbed one, ripped the wrapper open, and steadied himself enough to put it on. "Can…Can I…"

Paige shifted her knees farther apart, closing them back around him when he positioned himself, only allowing him to enter her slightly. He tried to push his hips forward, making a frustrated sound when he wasn't able to. "I'm not going to last," he said. "Let me…" he paused for breath. "Please."

He was always intensely attracted to her, but today seemed more so. Paige wondered if it was a need to be the most recent person to have this kind of contact with her, or if the simple fact that someone else wanted her made her more attractive to him. "Okay," she said. She opened her hips to him, grunting with satisfaction when he pushed all the way into her.

"Oh God," he groaned, his body trembling with relief. "You feel so incredible."

"Come for me," she whispered in his ear.

Walter's thrusts were aggressive from the start, firm and fast, and Paige's eyes rolled back into her head. As desperate as he was, as close as he was, her body was reacting to his and bringing her right along with him. She bit her lower lip, moaning without opening her mouth. Walter gasped, almost as if he was reacting to the sound she'd made, then groaned loudly, pushed deep into her, and stilled. They stayed that way, panting, her arms loosely around his shoulders out of pure habit.

He lifted his head up to look at her, a small smile coming over his face even as he continued to breathe hard. "Nice," he said. "Yeah?"

Paige laughed, and he cocked his head, still smiling. "What?"

"The internet has ruined that word."

"How?"

"Because that's what you say when…you know what? Never mind, I don't want to explain it. Just Google 'when to say nice' or something like that."

"Seems strange."

"We're humans," she said, pushing back on his chest so he'd back up enough for her to get off the counter. "We're strange."

They grinned at each other, and then Paige crossed the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping in. "Mind if I get in on this?" He asked. Paige gestured to him, a corner of her mouth turning upwards, remembering the last time they'd showered in a hotel room similar to this one. She closed her eyes, letting the water beat against her back, puffing her chest out because she knew how to keep Walter's attention.

He stepped close to her, pulling the curtain partway closed to protect the floor from getting soaked, and used the pump on the wall to fill his hands with soap. "Need help?"

"Maybe." Paige loved his hands on her, and he was helping her get clean this way. It was _efficient_.

Even if it always just took a matter of minutes before his hands were treating her breasts like they were magic lamps.

That comparison made her giggle. Walter smiled at her, his thumbs rubbing the undersides. "What's funny?"

"A thought I had, where, oh that's good," she said, closing her eyes and grinning almost dreamily as his hands massaged her. She reached down, taking him in her hand. "Not too sensitive?"

"Mmm mmm. I should be okay in a minute or two."

"Excellent." She stroked him slowly, tipping her head back to let the water soak her hair. Walter's hands brought her along, making her exhales deeper and her inhales louder, and Walter's eyes never left her as his hands soaped up her entire body. Tenny had fingered her without seeing much of her body, and then had been fine with 'waiting until next time' for them to do anything more.

What a stark contrast from the man who took in every inch of her body like the fine art he claimed to not understand, and who desired her so fiercely it seemed almost physically painful.

Still wanting to pretend the main object here was her pre-walk of shame shower, Paige pumped shampoo into her hand and massaged it into her hair, trying to avoid the stream from the shower. Walter was mostly hard again, and he gently turned her around; Paige put her foot up on the ledge, letting the water hit her back as Walter held her hips and slowly pushed into her again. They had to go slow in here, so they wouldn't slip, but if they weren't looking at each other, it wasn't intimate. It didn't _count_.

She conveniently avoided thinking about the times they did things very similar to this while murmuring things to each other that she once swore she'd never say to him again.

Settling into a slow but steady rhythm, Paige felt Walter's hands leave her hips, find her shoulders, and have her straighten up enough that the back of her head was under the water. She felt his fingers move, helping to rinse the shampoo out. She closed her eyes. One of her favorite parts about going to the salon was the relaxing feel of someone else washing her hair.

She supposed the innocence of that was a bit ruined, now.

She heard, after a minute or so, Walter messing with the conditioner bottle, and then felt him working it through her hair. Then, his hands were back on her hips, his thrusts becoming slightly more quickly, slightly deeper, and they made it more than slightly more difficult for her to stay in control. "Oh," she gasped quietly, her hands on the installed rack below the shower head. "A little more…"

Walter shifted slightly closer, changing the angle of his thrusts slightly, and she moaned when he brushed the extra sensitive spot inside her. "That's it." She closed her eyes, feeling his hand trace over her back. "That's it. Shit, that's good."

"Uh huh." Walter groaned quietly. "God, Paige."

Two minutes later – to the second, because Walter's internal clock was essentially perfect – Paige's hair was being rinsed again, and then Walter took back hold of her hips and began to pump his hips more rapidly, grunting and drawing another moan out of Paige. She tipped her head to the side, catching sight of them in the mirror. _Damn._ Walter's body…Walter's expression…hell, the same things but _her_. Paige gritted her teeth, hearing a hissing sound through them, then grunted, and her voice was high when she spoke. "Walter, I'm close, Walter, I'm close."

Walter slid a hand around, locating her clit, and he lightly pinched the skin around it, rolling between his fingers to stimulate without _quite_ touching. Paige gasped, choking briefly on the Water as her body coiled and released again. The feel of her finishing around him brought Walter to his own climax less than a minute later. Paige let the water run over her a few more seconds then stepped out of the shower, giving Walter room to properly rinse off.

"I'll text you soon," she said as she got dressed.

"Sounds good."

"We maybe got a little too…much, with the hair washing," she said.

"I agree. And I apologize. Just was thinking of efficiency."

"I get it. It's all good."

"Cool."

"You'll text me? Or I'll text you."

"Okay."

* * *

Walter wasn't surprised when, four days after their last tryst, he got a text from Paige. An eggplant emoji, a question mark, and the word 'later.'

The quality of her booty call texts had certainly gone down since they'd initially started up this arrangement.

He glanced at the desk to the right. Florence was hunched over her phone. She'd been texting someone a lot lately. She seemed determined to not tell him nor Cabe who it was.

Walter texted Paige back. "When?" The answer came shortly after. Two hours. He agreed, glancing back at Florence's desk. She was smirking at her cell phone like whoever she was texting just came up with an idea that would win a Nobel Prize.

* * *

Walter hadn't been surprised when Paige texted him to meet up at the next hotel on their rotating list. But he _was_ surprised when he opened the door to find her sitting on the bed, knees up to her chest, tears leaking from her eyes.

"Paige," he said making sure the door had clicked shut before crossing the room to stand beside the bed.

Her voice was quiet. "It's Ralph."

* * *

**One more chapter!**


	3. Wreck Less

**So long time, no update on this. I appreciate your patience – and I even appreciate some of your impatience since I get it, I basically went AWOL on this fic. Combination of factors, one, had some computer issues, two, my need to be in a very precise mood to write smut and I am so rarely in that mood.**

**Mainly computer issues and fatigue though. Funny story. Recently my computer conked out, managed to save most of my stuff, then it just died completely. I realized I had 3500 words of this last chapter on it (chapter worked out to about 4800) and I was never going to get this published if I had to write all over again. Now, I also name these files and folders whatever the hell I want since no one sees my computer but me. Which is fine, except when I need file recovery.**

**So I deadass walked up to someone I was hiring to pull shit off my laptop and said the sentence "there's a file named 'Porno' that I really need you to save."**

**WHOOPS. Anyway, here it is, "Wreck Less" aka "Porno" in all its glory. May be the last smut from me, may not be (I have a fade to black scene from GDT that I may flesh out in a separate oneshot, but we'll see).**

* * *

Ralph.

She hadn't meant to bring him into this. She'd been planning to just meet up, get off a couple times like usual, and go home. But in the minutes between her arrival at the hotel and Walter's, she'd had too many seconds to think. To fixate. And so the tears had come. And she hadn't been able to overcome them before her ex had shown up, the ex who was so horrible at reading complex emotions but knew the classic signs of sadness all too well.

So she'd spilled. How she'd asked Ralph to help on a Centipede case. How she, admittedly, had gotten snippy with him when he'd said no thanks, reminding him that he needed to not take a teenaged attitude with her and assist as he had always done.

That, of course, had lead to the reminders, shouted at her and accompanied by a pointed finger, that things were not in fact the same as they'd been when he'd so willingly thrown himself into their jobs.

She left out the part that hurt the most. The part where her son had looked at her, angry and wary at the same time, and said, "_you told Walter he was a child who would never change. Who didn't deserve love. Walter and I are so similar. Don't pretend that if you really feel that way about Walter, you also feel that way about me."_

You're paraphrasing, she'd shot back. I didn't say it like that.

"_I don't care exactly how you said it."_

Walter had asked her what she wanted from him. She wanted to snap at him for that. She didn't. She knew that was his way of _offering_ help. She wanted several things from him. Continuing this conversation, letting him be the shoulder to cry on, that was too dangerous. So was letting Ralph see him, although she did long to see them together again, if only for her son's sake.

The other thing she wanted from him, well, it was what she'd been coming to him for for months.

Of course, despite them having previously agreed on boundaries, and despite avoiding breaking some of them by cutting their emotional talk about Ralph short, they still were crossing one line tonight that they'd hadn't since this whole affair started.

"Make me forget about this for a while," was how she'd responded to him asking how he could help.

The next thing he said was, "is this okay?"

So now his head was between her legs, his hands holding her hips in place, her underwear at her ankles and her skirt flipped up over her belly, while she stared up at the ceiling and panted heavily. She hadn't forgotten how good he was at this, but she'd refused to think about it. This was, to her, more intimate than the other things they'd been doing. Walter was only the second person she'd ever allowed to do this. And she knew she was the only one Walter had ever done this with – giving or receiving.

That made doing this so much worse. It was a direct reminder of their relationship, when he'd do this, then crawl up her body and kiss her, whispering he loved her, making sure to do so before any gratification of his own. She'd always felt so, so loved in those moments.

She whimpered, partly due to what he was doing, partly due to the memory, entirely involuntarily. Her hands came up, curling around the pillowcase. "Shit."

"Close?" He mumbled.

"Uh – huh," she moaned, reaching up with one hand to try and grab the headboard. It was attached to the wall. She returned the hand to the pillow, closing her eyes, wishing she'd taken off her top because of how hard she knew she was sweating. It would be harder to hide this walk of shame.

Walter hummed against her, adjusting his grip on her hips, his tongue moving like mad, and Paige gave a sharp cry as she went over the edge, the intensity making her shake. He kept his mouth on her, drawing it out without over stimulating, and lifted his head as she came out of it, wiping his mouth and coming up to lay next to her. There was no kissing his way up her body this time. No kiss on the mouth and whispered words. They still had some boundaries. She pulled her underwear back up around her hips, letting her skirt back down.

He gently rubbed her stomach. She'd told him a long time ago that she sometimes cramped after a powerful climax, and while he had to know that he wasn't actually alleviating anything, the gesture was one of comfort that Paige had come to rely on.

Maybe it was too much. Maybe she should stop him.

She thought she should. But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Thank you," she said. "I needed that."

"Of course," he said.

She kept staring at the ceiling, focusing on catching her breath. She drew her knees up, tucking her toes under the rumpled covers and extending her legs back out, needing to warm up her extremities. Walter kept rubbing her stomach, almost aimlessly. The minutes ticked by, neither of them saying a word.

When she felt more or less recovered, she rolled onto her side to face him. "This arrangement we have," she said, "it's a mutually beneficial one. I guess that means it's your turn." She reached out, sliding her hand over the zipper on his pants, and smiled, lifting her eyebrows flirtatiously.

Walter closed his hand around her wrist. "Paige. You were upset."

"And you took care of me. Now it's your turn to get taken care of."

"Paige, it's fine."

"You always preferred being inside me anyway," she said. "Oh! That's it, I see."

He frowned. "What's it?"

"You decline a blow job because you prefer to be inside me, thinking I'll offer that instead."

Walter sat up, shifting his weight. He was annoyed, preparing to get up. "That's not at all what's – "

"Well fortunately for you," she said, cutting him off as she scooted out from under the covers, "that's what I have in mind, too."

She straddled him, both hands unbuttoning and unzipping his pants and tugging them off his hips when he shifted again to help her out. She scooted up his thighs, kissing him hard on the mouth and slowly grinding down on him. His body, already somewhat wound from going down on her, responded readily to the stimulation, and they groaned quietly against each other's lips. Paige unbuttoned her shirt, finally freeing herself of the hot material, and reached behind her back to unclip her bra as her hips continued to roll over the bulge in his underwear.

"Damn, Paige," Walter said, looking at her exposed breasts in a way startlingly similar to how he had the first time he'd seen them. Well, second time. He'd been very careful to ignore them at the nudist spring. He slid his arms around her, hands on her back, and lowered his mouth to one of her nipples, making her sigh and press her hips down harder in search of more stimulation. She still wasn't _quite _ready for anything direct, but the two layers of clothing between their bodies provided just enough protection.

Walter, however, wasn't recovering, and she enjoyed the small sounds escaping him as she kept moving against him, flexing his hips upward to press more firmly against her. She put a hand on his chest, pushing him back, her other hand covering the breast his mouth had just left from the chill of the air on it. His shoulders on the pillows, Paige undid the middle buttons on his shirt, sliding a hand inside to rub his chest. He groaned when her thumb brushed over his nipple. She repeated that to hear him groan again. She giggled. This was fun. She could do this all day. But she wouldn't.

"Okay." She rose up, climbing off of him, digging through her purse for the condom. He shed the rest of his clothing, and Paige rid herself of hers. He took the condom from her and, when it was in place, pushed her down against the mattress, his body trembling with anticipation.

She put a hand on his abdomen. "Slow, remember," she said. She tightened up temporarily after an intense orgasm, and if he entered her with unrestrained enthusiasm, it would hurt.

Walter nodded. "I know." He reached down between them, positioning himself, and pushed inside her carefully, letting out a shaky breath as he did so. When his hips met hers, he studied her face carefully. "Okay?"

"Mmm hmmm."

He began to move, slowly, setting a pace that would have been agonizingly slow for her if she wasn't still adjusting. As is, it was perfect. She put her hands on his upper arms, closing her eyes, rolling her hips along with his and nodding when, after a few minutes, he asked if she was recovered.

It felt good, and she normally could get off a second time faster and easier than the first time, but she could already tell it wasn't going to happen this time. No matter. She could still give Walter what he'd come for. She shifted her position, pulling his upper body down to kiss his lips, his chin, his neck, rolling one of his nipples between her fingers, and he responded, thrusting faster, one of his hands tucked under her head.

He groaned again when he finished, then panted against her neck, careful not to lay all his weight on her. Paige wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, holding him there, wanting to keep him inside her for just a moment or two longer.

* * *

Once in a while, they risked Paige coming to the garage. It was easy on nights Florence went somewhere – no one to see her car. Cabe always gave Walter a heads up if he was going to come over or stay late; he knew Walter got invested in his projects and got upset when disturbed.

Florence mentioned to Walter she had a meeting at the university. She wouldn't be back until, probably, 10pm. "If a case pops up, my phone will be off."

"Okay," he said, already thinking about texting Paige. Their 'no garage and no home' rule had already been broken in the past weeks. It wouldn't hurt to break it again.

She arrived with a smile, throwing her jacket over a hook and kicking off her heels at the door. "Come from work?" He asked.

"Yep," she said. "We're super busy."

"Good. Us, too."

"Good."

Walter met her halfway across the room and put his mouth on hers, his hands resting on her hips. She kissed him back, moaning quietly and putting her hands on the side of his face. He debated asking her to put the heels back on.

His phone started going off, and he was planning to ignore it, but then Paige's ringtone joined the chorus. They pulled back, looking at each other with some confusion, as if the other would explain why their phones were going off at the same time.

Walter looked at his screen. It was Florence. He glanced up at Paige. She'd taken her call and headed toward the door.

He answered. "I thought your phone was off."

"What, you have a lady over?"

He deserved a snarky remark, but Walter jumped toward the nearest window, suddenly sure that she _knew._ She _knew_ and she would tell the others. "Where are you?"

"At…the university. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Yes. Fine. Uh…what can I do for you?"

"There's a professor here that might have a job for us. A Larry Specking. Wanted to okay getting the info and presenting it in the morning before I waste his time."

"Specking."

"You know him?"

"No, I actually don't, and that's good. Go ahead and talk to him."

"Great. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Sounds good, bye."

Walter shoved his phone back in his pocket, then stepped back toward the table they had set up where the old team members' desks used to be. He sank down on a bench, waiting for Paige.

It took a few minutes before she came back over. "Sorry. Work. Yours okay?"

"Yes. Also work. Florence might have a job for us."

"Nice."

"Nice."

Paige looked rattled. Walter cocked his head. "Are you okay?"

"No." She sank down across from him. "It's been a long day. A _long_ day. And no one is happy. It's like I'm waitressing all over again."

"I understand that."

"Toby is angry with Happy about something. Sylvester's angry…he's just been angry lately. I worry about him. And then all our clients are mad about something…" Paige put her forehead down on the table. "I can't hold all of this together."

"I just want people to be happy," Walter said. "I feel sometimes like the weight of the world is on us – our teams, I mean – and yet how can we save them when we can't even make ourselves better?"

"Maybe we just aren't meant to," Paige said. "I would hate it, trust me," she added when Walter looked at her in alarm. "I just wonder if it's possible."

"I don't believe in meant to be," Walter said. "Not in that sense. I don't believe anyone is destined to be unhappy."

"I don't believe it either," she said, "though maybe it's just because I'm so desperate not to."

"You know…" he hesitated. He bit his lip, stared down at his hands on the table. Then he lifted his face, eyes back on Paige, who was looking at him, waiting for him to complete the sentence. "You know that even if Florence were to come in here right now, drop on her knee and propose, or try to pin me down on this table and have her way with me…you know I wouldn't, right?"

"We're not together, Walter. You can do whatever you want."

"That's exactly my point," he said. "I know we're not together. And I still want nothing to do with her. At least, not like that. It doesn't matter if I'm single or not. I don't have those feelings for her. She knows that. I've been single for months and she hasn't tried."

"She had no problem confessing in front of us all," Paige said.

Walter just looked at her.

Paige sighed. "I suppose she looked conflicted."

"She's hated everything that's happened as much as we have."

"You seem to know a lot about what she's thinking."

"Well, we are on the same team. She's my friend, Paige. I care about her, just like I care about Toby, Happy, Sly. Should I have been jealous at your friendships with them?"

"We did."

"I hate Centipede," she said suddenly. "I hate it. I hate the name. I hate constantly scrambling because we don't have the manpower. I hate being exhausted and being away from Ralph so much more than before because I have to somehow be me, Cabe, and even you all at once. I have to convince potential clients why you aren't involved, because your name was so heavily attached to Scorpion. I have to come up with explanations for the split and why we are better without the three of you, and those reasons have to sound professional and make us sound like an upgrade. I'm sure you guys have dealt with some of the same."

"To an extent." At least Scorpion 2.0 had the benefit of still having the recognizable name. "We were a fine-tuned machine. Even when we were tense with each other, we still worked as a unit."

"That we did." He looked back down at his hands.

"They say sometimes a thing can be greater than the sum of its parts," Paige said.

Walter nodded. "I…don't know if this is what you were leading toward, but…if you or any of them wanted to…work here…again…"

"I don't know."

"Okay."

"That isn't a no," she said. "I just don't know."

"That's okay. But I do think we could all…we could make it work again."

"I think we could. I hated things about Scorpion sometimes. I hated specific missions. I hated specific days. But…I hate Centipede. I never hated Scorpion."

"Do you want to, like…think of some terms?" Walter reached for his laptop. "Like, work out pros and cons of merging, what we think everyone would want to get out of it, move forward as a business arrangement?"

"Lines will blur, eventually," Paige said. "Family can't go to being business."

"But it's a starting point."

"And they'd all be more likely to agree if they see we've thought this through."

"Exactly."

Paige moved around the table to sit next to him. He opened the laptop.

It wasn't until hours after she left that either of them realized they hadn't had sex.

* * *

It was probably weird that harmony turned Paige on. But it was day two of the merge, and things were better. Things were good, even.

Of course, they weren't exactly the same. People were businesslike, for the most part. Cabe couldn't resist sending a couple zingers Toby's way, and Toby couldn't resist wise cracking Walter's formality. They only worked for a few hours, mostly on planning ways to move forward, how to handle the non-time sensitive cases that they both had, how to handle pay and talking to current clients. But it was nice. It felt right. Sylvester even smiled.

It was day two of this, and day two of them winding up in the loft afterward with Walter's fingers inside Paige, her hand wrapped around him, both working furiously to make the other finish first. She'd lost yesterday. He was looking forward to making her lose again today.

Paige had her eyes closed, her head tipped back, and she scooted closer to him to adjust her own hand. Walter counted quietly in his head. She was every bit as skilled with her hands as he was, but all her little edging games had given him stamina – and the advantage.

"Fuck it," Paige said, "I want you inside me."

"You're just saying that because you're losing."

"Do you not want to be inside me?"

"Yes, please." Walter rolled on his side, fumbling for the drawer.

"That's right," she said with a smirk, straddling him down by his knees and waiting for him to roll the condom down before scooting upward. She lowered herself carefully, and put her hands on his chest as she began to ride him.

He put his hands around her wrists, groaning quietly. "You feel incredible."

She didn't answer, her face was flushed and she was breathing hard, but he saw her smile. She closed her eyes again. He wanted to do the same, but he could rarely look away from her when she was on top of him. She was beautiful. He wanted to tell her. But that might not be appropriate.

He slid his hands up to her hips. "God," he breathed. She moved effortlessly on him, rhythmically, with a fluidity that was beautiful to watch. He could feel himself getting closer, and he could tell by her sounds that she was too. He hoped she would finish first. They weren't playing the game anymore, but he still wanted to win.

"You close?" He asked her.

"Yes," she gasped.

He was, too, and when Paige tensed and moaned, fingers digging into him, he tipped over the edge too, gripping her hips tightly to keep her from moving off of him. They hadn't finished so close together lately, and he forgot how good it felt to be able to feel her pulsing around him as he came. "Shit," he gasped. "Shit."

Paige leaned forward, her forehead nearly touching his chin, gasping for air. Then she sat up, moved off of him, and dropped down on her side. "Whew," she said with a grin.

He turned toward her, grinning back. He raised his hand.

"A high five?" Paige asked, cocking her head.

He lowered it. "I don't know, it seemed to fit the moment."

She gave a nod. "I feel." She raised her hand. He grinned, smacking it with his own.

She stretched out, groaning quietly. "Ugh, I hate to hit it and run, but…"

"Ralph," Walter said. "Go."

She grinned, leaned over to kiss his cheek, and rolled out of bed to find her clothes. She turned before reaching the stairs. "Walt?"

"Huh?"

"I'm so glad we're doing this. The team."

He nodded. "Me too."

* * *

They fell into a new pattern, twice at the hotel, once at the garage. They had to keep some level of ground rules in place, they'd decided, just like they had laid out with the team merge. There wasn't a typed out document, no chalk board diagrams. But now that they were working in such close proximity again, they had to have boundaries.

Hotel, hotel, garage. They all traveled together to Puerto Rico. Hotel, they saved some boaters, hotel, they blew up a meteor, garage. Hotel, hotel, they went to Sri Lanka, garage. Hotel.

Happy and Florence were still wary around each other. But Florence and Sylvester were talking again. Sylvester had approached Walter just two days before. The encounter had ended with a hug. They were working on things. They were moving forward together; the only way any of them knew how.

Walter arrived first for his and Paige's next hotel rendezvous. It was early morning, but the hotel was at less than fifty percent capacity, and they didn't mind him checking in at that time. He paid, left her a key, and went up to the room. He studied his reflection in the full length mirror on the bathroom door. He double checked that he'd brought condoms. He'd brought multiple. He was optimistic. Chances were about fifty – fifty anyway.

She knocked. That was odd, Walter thought, as she had a key. But instead of calling out for her to just come in, he turned and opened the door, giving her a smile. "Hey."

"I'm late," she said.

"Maybe by a minute or two," Walter said, "but I think I can look past it if you're still planning on doing what we talked about last time."

"No, Walter, I mean like _late_ late."

"…oh." Oh.

Oh.

After their scare a few months ago, they'd been so careful. He tried to always be prepared for any situation. But he hadn't expected this to be a situation. He stepped aside, suddenly realizing she was still in the hallway. She walked inside. "I'm…assuming you haven't taken a test yet."

"I have one with me. But I don't know if I want to take it."

"Okay." He frowned. He didn't know what she wanted from him. "I mean, I can't…take it for you."

She let out a rushed sigh. "I know that."

"You said you didn't know if you want to take it. What do you want to do if you aren't taking it?" He wanted – really, really wanted – to point out to her that not taking the test wouldn't change the outcome, but he sensed that was the wrong thing to say.

"I just…I can't be alone when I take it."

"Okay."

"Because I can't come to you with a positive test. I just…" she sighed. "I know I could take it and if it was negative just pretend it didn't happen but if it _was_ positive then I'd have to tell you that way and I can't do that and…"

He stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Paige."

"Sorry. I'm blabbing." She pushed on the bathroom door. "Just…I'm not peeing in front of you. Give me a minute."

He waited outside the door. After a minute or two, she called to him. He entered the bathroom. She was sitting on the toilet, the test resting on her lap. Her knees were bouncing. He sat on the edge of the bathtub, his mind racing. Should he take her hand? Should he take the test from her so it wouldn't fall off of her jittery legs? He opted to rest a hand on her knee.

"I'm sorry. I'm so anxious."

"I know."

Her teeth were clattering. She closed her mouth. It didn't stop the sound.

"Just breathe," he said. "Time is an illusion. It will pass us by before we know it."

"Stop," she said, and he thought he heard her voice crack. "That isn't helping."

"What would help?"

"I just want the time to be up," she said.

"I know." He wanted her to stop shaking. If he didn't know any better, he'd think she was cold.

"I can't…" she bit her lip. She closed her eyes. He wished he could make whatever unpleasantness was swarming inside her go away. "This can't be positive."

"It probably won't be," he said. "We were very careful."

"I know."

They sat in silence until her phone chimed. Paige got off the toilet and sat down next to Walter before flipping the test over. She exhaled.

Walter spoke the result aloud. "Not pregnant."

"Thank God." Paige put her face in her hands. "Thank God."

Walter rubbed her back instinctively, surprised when he realized she was crying. "Paige?" She got up, walking to the sink, placing her hand on either side of the basin and tucking her chin to her chest. "Paige, what's wrong?"

She began to full on sob, her body shaking again; he could see her face contorting in the mirror. He put his hands on her waist, not sure where was appropriate to touch, but wanting to comfort her. "Paige, it's okay, it's negative. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Yes." She used her arm to wipe under her nose. "Yes, it's what I wanted." She turned to face him. "Because if it was positive, you'd never believe me."

"Believe…that it was positive?"

"_No_." She drew in a long breath, wiping her eyes. "If it was positive, I couldn't tell you how much I still feel for you, because you'd think I was only saying it because I was scared that you wouldn't be in the kid's life."

Walter's brain had to take some time to piece her sentence together. He was still analyzing it when she spoke again.

"I can't say I'm still in love with you because I do think I stopped at one point. But I love you _again_. All over again. And I wanted to tell you, and then I was late, and I thought oh god, if this test…if it's positive..." she put her hands over her face. "If it's positive, my life will be over. Because he will think I'm trying to manipulate him."

Walter absolutely hated that her hypothetical scenario would probably have gone exactly the way she thought.

"And I wouldn't have blamed you," she said. She wiped her eyes again. "And I still don't think I'm entitled to you loving me back. But…but I wanted to be able to tell you with no hidden motives. So…so there it is." She grabbed the test and showed it to him again. "I'm not pregnant, Walt. And I love you."

He felt like his heart was going to pound its way right out of his chest. "You love me. Does this mean you want to, like…"

"Yeah. I want all of it. But if you don't, I mean, I get it. But God it feels good to just…get that off my chest."

She was scared. Walter could see it. It wasn't the same fear she'd had when they were waiting on the result, but it was just as present. It was vulnerability. It was the fear one felt when they were on the verge of potentially hearing there was no hope.

"Come here," he said in a low voice, putting his hands on the sides of her face. "Remember when I first told you I loved you? When I poured out my heart, not knowing what you'd say back? Do you remember what you said?"

"_I'm in love with you, too._"

He nodded. "Exactly. I love you too, Paige. All over again."

"Thank God," she said with a laugh, and he chuckled in response as he leaned in and kissed her. "So," she said when they broke apart. She gestured with her head toward the main part of the hotel room. "You wanna…"

"Actually," Walter said, taking both of her hands. "Why don't we go do something we haven't been doing the past five months?"

She cocked her head. "Like what?"

"There's that breakfast place you love just two blocks away." He saw the smile coming over her face and knew he was saying the exact right thing. "We've been staying in a lot lately. Let's go out."

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
